Description
Two Nudes in a Forest is a small painting Frida Kahlo made in 1939: at the edge of a forest a darker-skinned woman sits on a red cloth, a lighter-skinned woman lies beside her with her head in her lap, and a monkey watches from the branches. The original, oil on metal, is just 25 cm high and 30.5 cm wide and, according to the list of her works, is in a private collection in Washington. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil colours on canvas, in one of 6 landscape sizes from 50 x 39 to 90 x 71 cm or made to measure, every one of them larger than the original; before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | Two Nudes in a Forest |
| Other titles: | Dos desnudos en un bosque · The Earth |
| Painter: | Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) |
| Year painted: | 1939 |
| Original size: | 25 cm x 30.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on metal |
| Painting style: | Mexican modernism |
| Located at: | Private collection, Washington |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes or made to measure |
Two Nudes in a Forest – Frida Kahlo
What does Two Nudes in a Forest show?
Two women occupy the foreground, on dry ochre-brown ground that stretches away on the right to a flat horizon. Both are nude. The darker-skinned woman sits on a red cloth, a red shawl covering her head and falling down her back, her long dark hair reaching to her chest.
The other woman, lighter-skinned, lies on her side across almost the whole width of the painting. Her head rests in the first woman’s lap, her hair spreads over the ground, and her eyes turn out towards us. The seated woman looks down at her and raises a hand to her neck, as if smoothing her hair.
The forest fills the left half: twisting lianas knotted into one another, huge leaves in yellow-green, ochre and russet, one of them almost white with strong veins, and behind them tall, pointed, dark green trees. A small dark monkey crouches among the leaves, looking towards the women.
The sky is grey and white, heavy with cloud. In the soil beneath the women fine white roots branch out like veins, and in places the earth is cracked.
What do the two women stand for?
The painting is also known in English as The Earth and as My Nurse and I.
The two women, one dark-skinned and one light-skinned, are read as two sides of Kahlo’s identity: her indigenous Mexican roots and her European ancestry. She explores the same question in The Two Fridas, painted the same year.
The Wikipedia article also links the painting to Kahlo’s bisexuality, which she expressed openly in her work.
Roots are a recurring motif in her painting, tying her figures to the earth; here they run through the soil beneath both women.
Why does this small painting draw so much attention?
The same two women had already appeared in What the Water Gave Me of 1938, and the monkey is her own spider monkey, which she also painted in Fulang-Chang and I of 1937.
In January 1939 Kahlo sailed to Paris for an exhibition, and in November that year she and Diego Rivera were divorced. The painting belongs to the small works on metal sheets she had used since 1932; after the separation she moved to large canvases.
The readings of the painting are summed up in the Wikipedia article on Two Nudes in a Forest, written in English.
Where is the original?
According to the list of Frida Kahlo’s works on English Wikipedia, the original belongs to a private collection in Washington, so no museum shows it permanently.
Kahlo gave it to a close woman friend; some believe she was the actress Dolores del Río.
It is painted in oil on a metal sheet 25 cm high and 30.5 cm wide, only slightly larger than a sheet of A4 paper.
For most admirers a hand-painted copy is therefore the only way to have this forest at home, in any of our sizes, each of them larger than the original.
Two Nudes in a Forest or another Kahlo work?
This canvas painting is landscape in format, built on warm earth tones of ochre, brown and red under a cool grey sky. It sits well with wood, linen and green plants, and suits a bedroom, a reading corner or a quiet study.
If the monkey among the leaves appeals to you, look at Self-Portrait with Monkey, where the animal sits close beside the artist.
And if the roots catch your eye, carry on to Roots of 1943.
Our Frida Kahlo page gathers the famous Frida Kahlo paintings our painters make to order.
How does our painter paint the forest and the two women?
The original is oil on metal, with a very smooth surface; ours is painted on canvas, and the painter reaches that smoothness with thin layers of oil colour.
First he transfers the composition: the diagonal of the reclining body, the seated figure on the right and the knotted lianas on the left. Then he lays in the ground, the sky and the broad areas of leaf in flat, clear colours, the way Kahlo used them.
He models the bodies with soft transitions, making sure the difference between the darker and the lighter skin stays clear. The fine work follows: the veins of the leaves, single strands of hair, the folds of the red cloth, the monkey’s fur and the thin white roots in the earth.
Nothing is blown up mechanically from the tiny metal panel: each leaf and root is brushed in afresh at the larger scale. What you receive is a Frida Kahlo reproduction built up in real layers of paint, which no print can match; every oil painting reproduction we make is one of a kind.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 50 x 39 or 56 x 44 cm for a shelf, the wall by a bedside table or a narrow alcove, 61 x 51 or 70 x 56 cm above a desk or a chest of drawers, and 80 x 63 or 90 x 71 cm above a sofa or a bed.
We paint it in 6 landscape sizes (width x height): 50 x 39, 56 x 44, 61 x 51, 70 x 56, 80 x 63 and 90 x 71 cm. The original measures 30.5 x 25 cm, so every one of these sizes is larger; even the smallest, 50 x 39 cm, is 19.5 cm wider and 14 cm taller.
As a painting for the living room above a two-seater sofa or a low sideboard, 80 x 63 cm works well, while the largest size, 90 x 71 cm, gives the forest and the roots room to read from the far side of the room.
Can I choose another size or a frame?
Yes. The original is roughly 6 : 5 in proportion, so we can paint it in a size that is not on the list without cropping the monkey or the feet of the reclining woman. Send us the width and height you want, and we reply with a price and a lead time.
We ship it rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed; stretching and framing are done by our workshop in Slovenia, which prepares every painting we send. You pick the frame in our 3D app, which is for choosing frames only; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A plain natural-wood frame suits the earth tones, while a dark frame brings out the red cloth and the grey sky.
When will it arrive, and how is it sent?
Once you confirm the order the painter begins, and within 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to travel. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished painting, and any changes you ask for are still made.
Parcels within Slovenia and the rest of the EU pass through no customs, and our returns policy applies to every order.
Two Nudes in a Forest makes a fine gift for someone who knows Kahlo’s work and loves Mexican art. A wall art voucher leaves the choice of size to them.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
Nowhere on permanent view: according to the list of her works it is in a private collection in Washington.
Who are the two women?
Wikipedia does not name them; they are read as the indigenous and the European side of Kahlo’s identity.
Is this a print?
No, the painter works it with a brush and oil colours on canvas, stroke by stroke.
How big is the original?
It is 25 cm high and 30.5 cm wide, so every size we offer is larger.
Can you paint it in my size?
Yes, in the width and height you choose; you learn the price before you order.
How long does delivery take?
We need 15 to 45 working days to paint it; EU parcels clear no customs.
Is it suitable for a bedroom?
Yes, the quiet scene and warm earth tones suit a bedroom or a reading corner well.
What do the roots in the ground mean?
Roots recur often in her paintings and are read as a bond with the earth and with Mexico.
- Subject: two nude women at the edge of a forest, one seated on a red cloth, the other lying in her lap, a monkey in the branches.
- Original: 1939, oil on metal, 25 x 30.5 cm, private collection, Washington.
- Ours: oil on canvas, painted by hand to order, in 6 landscape sizes from 50 x 39 to 90 x 71 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: Kahlo had painted the same two women a year earlier, in What the Water Gave Me.
